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The measure calls for a major changes to how the Silver State names general election candidates

Nevadans of all political stripes would be able to vote in primary elections under an initiative petition filed last week with the Nevada Secretary of State’s office.

The initiative, submitted by term-limited state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, could add hundreds of thousands of nonpartisan and third-party voters to the ranks of Nevadans who help pick candidates for general election ballots.

Those voters have long been excluded under the Silver State’s “closed primary” system, which permits only registered Republicans and Democrats to weigh in on contests that often decide the winner of small state and local races.

The process has been consistently criticized by campaign watchdogs and good government advocates who say it gives fringe elements in both major political parties undue influence over elections that ought to be decided by a much broader swath of voters.

Kieckhefer’s proposal aims to open things up by sending the top two vote-getters in a primary race to the general election — regardless of the political party they represent.

That means contests for some of the state’s highest-profile positions — from the governor’s office to the U.S. Senate — could come down to two Republicans, two Democrats, or even a pair of third-party contenders.

It might also mean a drastic reduction in the number of noncompetitive contests.

More than a dozen state lawmakers, and countless local office-holders, were automatically elected in 2018 after failing to draw a general election opponent.

Kieckhefer and other proponents say the so-called “top-two” system has the potential to prevent that.

“This is a system that empowers voters, rather than political parties,” he told the Reno Gazette Journal. “This is a system that gives every voter a chance to elect who represents them.

“Right now, parties block out participants from a large swath of the electorate in the election that matters most — the primary.”

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Senate Finance Chairman Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, was one of the senators who was critical of Treasurer Dan Schwartz’s alternative budget during a hearing Thursday at the Legislature.(Photo: Tim Dunn/RGJ)

Proponents say the so-called “top two” system can also boost participation in typically low-turnout primary elections and draw power away from political party bosses who have become accustomed to holding a lot sway in primaries.

Those same party bigwigs have also been the loudest critics of the system, which can prevent Republican candidates from putting up any kind of fight in heavily liberal districts, even as voters freeze out Democrats’ hand-picked choice to win that same seat.

“This is a system that better meets the needs of the people, not the establishment,” he said. “I’ve seen from the inside what the current system means for politics. … This (initiative) will take away power from the existing structures.”

Registered nonpartisans are by far Nevada’s fastest-growing voting bloc and now account for nearly 23 percent of the Silver State’s active voters. Third-party voters — Nevadans registered with the Independent American Party, the Libertarian Party and a half-dozen others — make up about 6 percent of the electorate.

Kieckhefer’s initiative would allow them to cast a primary vote for state constitutional, legislative and congressional races.

They would still be barred from participating in presidential nominating contests, which Nevada now settles with sometimes chaotic caucuses run by the state’s Democratic and Republican parties.

State Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, right.(Photo: Tim Dunn/RGJ File)

Supporters will need to gather nearly 97,600 valid signatures in order to put the proposal to a statewide vote. If they succeed, the initiative would go to the 2021 Legislature, and could go before voters in 2022.

Nevada is one of nine states with a closed primary. Only three others, Washington, California and Nebraska, operate under the top-two system.